Purse theft in Orange

The Orange Police Department (OPD) received a report of a purse theft Jan. 11 at Kroger on 16th Street in Orange. According to the incident report, a woman was loading groceries into her vehicle with her purse sitting in the shopping basket. When she looked for her purse after loading her vehicle, she noticed it had been stolen. The woman did not see who took the purse, and police have no suspects at this time.

OPD Captain Cliff Hargrave said there are measures that should be taken in order to help prevent thefts such as these.

“Keep (your purses) with you,” Captain Hargrave said. “Keep them under your arm or put the purse in the care first. We all get lax. I am sure she probably shopped there a hundred times and never had a problem. It just happened to be that day. … This is a good reminder to all of us: Don’t turn your back on your purse. If you leave stuff in your car, don’t leave it where people can see it. Put stuff under the seat; cover it up. You would not believe the stuff people leave in their cars. Some people leave $2,000 computers in their cars that get stolen. A lady earlier last year left her rings in the cup holder, a diamond wedding ring worth about $5,000. … In 90 percent of car burglaries, the car is unlocked.”

Hargrave said taking measures to prevent theft might not always work, but those measures reduce the possibility of property loss.

While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us “that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas,” we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We’re of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.